Content vs. Contentment

Mainstream consumer culture, digital detoxes, and needing less.

It’s been four weeks since my last post. While I did plan on slowing down this summer and publishing less frequently, it was not my intention to stay away this long.  

I used family vacation as an excuse to do a digital detox; a much needed break from the dozens of Substacks, industry publications, TikTok and IG influencers, brand newsletters, and various news channels that I consume daily in the name of “staying informed.”  This is required reading for me to start my day. It’s coffee and cultural content for breakfast every morning, 6 days a week. 

For three weeks, I gave myself permission to skip the content and just have coffee. No screens. No social. Just a view of Lake Champlain from my cabin deck. During the day, I used my phone to capture moments, send some texts, and confer with Google Maps to make sure we weren’t lost. 

What surprised me most was how easy this was for me. I didn’t have an ounce of FOMO. I didn’t miss the hot takes on cultural moments or micro trends from my favo…